MASA HABUBOT LE'ERETZ-ISRAEL / THE DOLLS' JOURNEY TO ERETZ-ISRAEL By Abraham Regelson
Seventy years ago, the first edition of this early Hebrew children's classic was published in Tel-Aviv. Though long unavailable, this vintage book is remembered with love by many to this day. Israel's foremost songwriter, the late Naomi Shemer, when asked in a radio interview what her favorite childhood read was, singled it out, telling how she would laugh out loud through countless rereadings. Rare-bookdealers in Israel say it is one of their most requested items, and Kibbutz Yagur, when celebrating its sixtieth anniversary, seeking to produce a play with the flavor of those early pre-State years, chose to present a musical based on this fanciful tale of the dolls and their journey. Newly republished in two versions - both in the original Hebrew and in an English translation, (with a Prologue and Epilogue telling of the book's origins and history) by the author's daughter Sharona, who as a little girl was the real "mother of the dolls". It is a captivating adventure story of a doll family's journey by land, sea and air, on their way from America to reunite with their mother Sharona in Tel-Aviv. When her family emigrated from Cleveland to pre-state Israel in 1933, the dolls were left behind with Sharona's friend Phyllis, but they -- yearning for their mother's care, her songs, stories and Sabbath table -- determined to follow her across the Atlantic. Steeped in Jewish lore and sentiment, this delightful doll-fantasy is intertwined with the real-life adventures of the author's journey with his family, their trials of immigration and absorption in young Tel-Aviv, then a city of unpaved roads, sand-dunes, camels and donkeys. The reader gets a picture of how people lived and spoke then, and what they felt toward their ancestral homeland. Original illustrations from various previous editions, by Nahum Gutman, Aryeh Navon, Bina Gevirtz and others. A quality book for the young of all ages, and a perfect holiday gift. Visit website at http://bibliobooks.com/dollsjourney.html Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
